What Are We Feeding Our People?
Remember the old food pyramid posters from school?
Grains at the bottom. Fruit and veg in the middle. Fats and sugars right at the top. It wasn’t perfect, but the idea was simple: if you want a healthy body, you need a balanced diet. Not just the foods you like, or the ones that are easiest to prepare — but the whole range of nutrients your body needs to grow strong over time.
What if our theology works the same way?
In the songs we sing, the prayers we lead, and the messages we preach — what kind of spiritual diet are we feeding our people?
The Slow Work of Formation
Every Sunday, every small group, every pre-service playlist — it all shapes people’s view of God. Not in one dramatic hit, but in a thousand slow sips over time.
And just like a kid who only ever eats cereal and toast, a congregation with an unbalanced theological “diet” might feel full for a while… but they’re slowly being starved of the richness and complexity of who God really is.
If all we ever sing about is victory, where’s the space for lament?
If all we ever talk about is grace, when do we teach about holiness?
If our view of God is all intimacy and no majesty — all comfort and no call — we’re malnourished. Spiritually underfed.
Building a Balanced Theology
So what does a well-rounded “worship food pyramid” look like?
- Base layer: The Character of God.
- This is our foundation — who God is. His love, holiness, justice, mercy, power, and mystery. We need to regularly bring people back to these deep truths. They’re not always “catchy,” but they are the meat and potatoes of worship.
- Middle layer: The Story of Redemption.
- From creation to cross to resurrection to restoration — God is telling a story, and we are part of it. When we place worship in this narrative context, it gives depth to every lyric and liturgy.
- Top layer: Felt Experience.
- This is where we sing about what God has done for me. Healing. Breakthrough. Peace. These are good and true — but if they dominate our worship diet, we risk creating a God in our image rather than being formed in His.
We don’t need to eliminate emotion. We just need to anchor it in something deeper.
Shaping Theology Through Worship
You don’t need a theology degree to be a theologian.
Every worship leader, every preacher, every small group facilitator is forming people’s theology week after week — whether they mean to or not.
The question is: what kind of God are we showing them?
Is He big or small?
Is He always kind, but never confronting?
Is He holy but distant? Loving but powerless?
Or is He the awe-inspiring, grace-offering, world-redeeming God of Scripture?
We shape what people believe — not just by what we say, but by what we repeat. The truths we emphasize. The attributes we sing. The moments we create space for.
And over time, those repeated glimpses build a picture. They build a God that people will either lean into — or walk away from.
A Healthy Diet Changes People
The most beautiful thing about a healthy spiritual “diet” is that it actually transforms people.
When worship isn’t just about my needs, but about His nature…
When sermons don’t just offer life hacks, but lift our eyes to the eternal…
When church becomes a place of reverent joy instead of religious obligation…
Something starts to shift.
People grow deeper roots. Their faith holds under pressure. Their awe runs wider than the highs and lows of emotion.
And as leaders, that’s what we’re aiming for — not just a big response, but a big view of God.
So maybe this week, as you’re planning your setlist or writing your sermon, just pause for a moment and ask:
What are we feeding our people?
Because transformation doesn’t come from hype.
It comes from health.
From the quiet, faithful work of offering a full, rich, nourishing vision of who God really is.
Because Sundays are just the beginning...
